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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsMcDonald’s ended its current IBM Automated Order Taker pilot in 2024, but it did not announce a permanent rejection of voice ordering or AI. The test, which began at selected drive-thrus in 2021, was meant to assess whether automated ordering could simplify crew operations and improve the customer experience. McDonald’s said it would keep evaluating voice-ordering solutions; later reporting described other AI projects at the company.
What McDonald’s stopped testing
The decision concerned IBM’s Automated Order Taker, a voice-ordering system tested at selected McDonald’s drive-thrus beginning in 2021. In June 2024, McDonald’s confirmed it was ending its current partnership with IBM for that system. The Associated Press reported that a franchisee memo obtained by Restaurant Business and CNBC said the system would be shut off at participating locations no later than July 26, 2024. The AP’s account of the decision describes the scope and timeline.
This was an end to the pilot, not an announcement that McDonald’s was abandoning every AI project, every voice-ordering effort, or its broader work with IBM. AP reported that the two companies expected to continue working together on other projects and that McDonald’s planned to keep using IBM products.
Why did McDonald’s end the pilot?
McDonald’s did not give a definitive reason for ending this specific pilot in the statements reported at the time. It described the test’s purpose, rather than claiming that the system had met its goals: “The goal of the test was to determine if an automated voice ordering solution could simplify operations for crew and create a faster, improved experience for our fans,” a spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch. CBS News’ report also recounts customer-reported ordering incidents.
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There was public criticism of the system. CBS described videos in which customers said the system added unintended items or quantities. AP also recounted social-media examples and said unnamed sources familiar with the system told CNBC that it struggled with accents and dialects. McDonald’s declined to comment on accuracy. Those reports document complaints and attributed concerns; they do not establish that a particular error—or any one of these issues—was the company’s confirmed reason for ending the trial.
The sources do not provide a representative accuracy study for the IBM pilot. It would therefore be misleading to assign it an accuracy percentage or to treat viral examples as a measure of how it performed across participating locations.
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Did McDonald’s give up on AI ordering?
No. McDonald’s said it saw “an opportunity to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly” and that its work with IBM gave it confidence that a drive-thru voice-ordering solution “will be part of our restaurants’ future.” Those statements show that the company left open the possibility of future voice ordering; they are not proof that the IBM pilot achieved its stated objectives.
Later reporting also described other McDonald’s AI initiatives. In 2026, AP reported on Archy, an AI-enabled drive-thru ordering system, and ArchIQ, a separate system developed with Google and intended to improve order accuracy and automate restaurant tasks. The report attributed a 90% order-accuracy rate to Archy. That is a McDonald’s figure reported by AP in 2026; the report did not give the measurement method or deployment scope needed to assess it independently. It is not a result for the earlier IBM pilot and cannot be used as a direct comparison. AP’s 2026 report on Archy and ArchIQ describes those later systems.
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The later systems should not be conflated with the IBM Automated Order Taker: the cited reporting does not establish that Archy replaced the pilot, that the systems use the same technology, or that their performance can be compared on equal terms. The 2024 decision is best understood as a reassessment of one trial within a continuing, changing technology strategy—not as proof that AI ordering cannot work or that McDonald’s ended AI development altogether.
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